To whom it may concern: My name is Ken Freedman. I am a resident of West Milford and I am a former West Milford School Board Member. In 2004, I unsuccessfully ran for West Milford Township Council. I was defeated by James Warden during that election. I am writing this statement to make a public apology to Mr. Warden for the untrue and defamatory statements that I made concerning him which I posted anonymously on the internet. I was the anonymous poster known as “wmgrad” in the West Milford forum for the web site “NJ.com” wherein I made the statements. This public apology is also being made to settle a civil law suit brought against me by James Warden because of the untrue statements I made. The fact is I did not personally know James Warden and had never met him or any member of his family. I made the statements hoping that it would affect James Warden in his capacity as a Councilman for the Township of West Milford. During a period of misguided political ambition, I participated along with others in unacceptable conduct which were unfounded and unwarranted statements about James Warden. Mr. Warden’s reputation was victimized by my attacks I sincerely apologize to him. This is my way of restoring any damage that I and others have done. Anonymous personal attacks on individuals either by innuendo, rumor or on the internet are wrong. Anonymous false statements are difficult to correct and refute. I and others tried to justify what was said about James Warden as being “free speech”. However it was not free speech at all, it was defamatory speech, designed to have James Warden resign as Councilman in West Milford. By making this difficult apology I hope that others will respect another person’s privacy and not react to, or repeat unfounded rumors. I also hope that this apology deter those who would consider participating in this type of unacceptable conduct in future campaigns. As I have learned, nothing on the internet is truly anonymous. Again, I apologize to Mr. Warden for the statements I have made. Ken Freedman